Good evening and welcome to the Township of Clark public council meeting. It is Tuesday, June 20th, 7:30 p.m. Roll call, please. >> Council member Hoff, >> here. >> Council member Hunt, >> here. >> Council member Maserella, >> here. >> Council member Okconor,
>> here. >> Council member Tol >> here. Council President Smith >> here. You please stand for the pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence. I >> aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which
it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. This meeting is in compliance with the Open Public's Meeting Act, chapter 231, PL1975, as adequate notice of this meeting has
been provided by mailing the annual schedule of meetings to the Star Ledger. Just put it down a little bit. the leader, Union County Local Source and Tap into Clark by posting such annual meeting schedule on the bulletin
board and town hall reserved for such announcements, the official website of the township and the proper filing of said notice form. formal action may be taken at this meeting. >> Great. Thank you. We're going to ask for a motion to suspend the regular order of
business for two important recognitions. Can I get a motion? >> I'll motion it. >> Thank you, Council Member Hoff. Can I get a second? Council member Steve Hunt. All in favor? >> Any opposed? All right. Mayor Albanesey's.
>> Thank you, Mr. President. There it is. Thank you. That was a great teaching lesson. Good evening everyone. Welcome to the um Clark Township Council meeting. And we have two um awards we're
giving out tonight or proclamations. First, I'd like to ask Ralph Bernardo to come up. So, many of many of you in Clark know Ralph. He's our recreation director and he's been leading our municipal alliance
group for many years. And this year or last year, recently, he was awarded um the award for Union County Municipal Alliance Representative um out of the 21 towns in Union County.
And we'd like to um present this proclamation to you, Ralph. And I'm going to read it now. Whereas Ralph Bernardo, director of Clark Township Recreation, has brought joy, enthusiasm, and an unwavering dedication to generations of Clark residents, creating
a community where fun, friendship, and lifelong memories flourish. And whereas for more than 20 years, Ralph's passion for recreation has strengthened the very heart of Clark, building programs and traditions that bring our town together
year after year. And whereas Ralph has led the municipal alliance for 14 years and proudly served as the president of the UNICO Italian-American organization for 11 years and has been a driving force behind countless community
initiatives. Whereas he oversees all recreation and Clark pool activities with exceptional energy and care, ensuring that children, teens, adults, and seniors alike enjoy safe, engaging, and welcoming spaces.
whereas he has managed the Clark Teen Center, supported ALJ High School's project. Wow, this is exhausting. Uh, graduation, runs the township annual summer camp, which is not to be missed, and is responsible for organizing and
managing events that have become the highlight of our community calendar here in Clark. Whereas through his leadership, creativity, and commitment, Ralph has enriched the cultural, social, and recreational life of Clark Township,
touching thousands of lives along the way. Whereas Ralph is not only respected, a respected leader, but also a cherished role model, a devoted husband, father, and grandfather whose spirit of service inspires all who know
him. Now therefore be it proclaimed that Mayor Angel Albanese and the township council on behalf of the township of Clark proudly honors Ralph Bernardo for his extraordinary contributions, heartfelt dedication, and lifelong
service to our community. Congratulations. Thank you. I will be brief. Thank you very much for this awesome honor. I'm extremely happy and proud to receive it. I'd like to thank the mayor and council uh for your continued support all these years. And
I'd also like to thank S for his support during his tenure. I served 15 years uh heading up the alliance. I felt it was an important tool for the youth of Clark in the fight against drugs and alcohol. I had an awesome committee who supported me for 14 years and I thank each one of
them. I currently serve as a volunteer now since I stepped down last year, but I'd like to thank Andrew Callo and Tara Olivea for taking over the reigns and continuing to keep the alliance going. February 1st will I will have served you
as the recreation director for 20 years. Four years prior to that, I was part-time. I love what I do every day, and every day going to work is not like going to work for me. I put my heart and soul in the job every day. I give the residents the best I can. I have an
indescribable passion for every event, program, or activity that I lead. I thank Jimmy for keeping me in check when sometimes I may overextend my budget. It's not being reckless with money. It's just me wanting the best and the most
for the residents of Clark. A job of this magnitude takes many hands, and I be remiss if I did not thank all the volunteers that are always there for me, no matter when I ask. the Key Club at the high school, Cessa Club, and just regular citizens that are always there
to help for our major events and all the parents who volunteer to work basketball, indoor soccer, uh, little league, and softball as coaches. Uh, I'd like to acknowledge and thank all the businesses and organizations and departments for their generous donations
through the years. I'd like to especially thank Emily Lambert for all your help, Emily, and all your support day in and day out. She does a great job of screening phone calls, too. Finally, I'd like to thank my wife, Karen, for understanding and supporting all the
weekends, holidays, and hours that I'm not home. Thank you for this honor. I'm I'm truly touched. Thank you. take a picture of you. Okay, >> sure. Okay, now we're going to move on to another um
award that we're giving out or um certificates that we're giving out for the accomplishments of Mother Seat's volleyball team. And this is the first time in Mother Seat's history that they've accomplished this success. They have a record from
2025 of 26 wins and three losses. for 2025. They were the white division champions. Uh they were the GMC tournament finalist, South Jersey non-public B champions,
non-public B state champions, and tonight we're also honoring their head coach, Tom Moran, for 351 wins. Just want to make sure that was heard.
351 wins in his 29 seasons as head coach at Mother Seat Regional High School. Congratulations. Before I call everyone up, I just want to mention some individual achievements that were brought to my attention. Um,
Mother Seat's Madison Porter She came in third in the state with 7447 assists. She set the school's single season record for assists with 747. Congratulations. Isabella Matias led state of New Jersey
with 622 digs. She surpassed 1,000 career digs by producing 35 in the win against MKA to give her a final total of 1,07. She had 42, 40, and 35 in Mother Seat's
final three matches and finished with 622 this year. Faith Fenza Fenza exceeded expectations as a freshman by setting the school's single season kills record with 290.
And you probably know the last person I'm mentioning, Annabella. Annabelle Burns had 750 career digs and would be the first non- libero position player in school history to get 1,000 if she
achieves that lofty goal next year which we're hoping for. Right ladies? So at this time um also uh Tom was additionally awarded coach of the year with all conference team and the white division team as
well. Congratulations. I'm going to call up um well actually Tom, would you like to call up and say come up and say a few words first? Thank you. We'll do that and then we'll give out certificates. >> Uh first off, Mayor Alanise and council members, thank you so much for this this
great honor. Um, we were established Clark in 1864 and Mother Seaton 99 years later in 1963 opened up its doors and we bid part of your town for all these years. For many
people were the first uh site as you come off the Parkway right there. Our beautiful school sits there. Um, I I want to thank everyone in this room. Uh, this did not come easy this year. This is a culmination of everyone's effort in
this room from uh PE from staff members, your family members, our administration. Um it's everyone in this room um that that came together this year is a magical season. uh and we are also proud
of them and this puts the exclamation uh on on all of our uh achievements this year and we really are grateful uh for uh this honor and uh these girls are really excited as you can see coming out tonight. Some couldn't make it with their schedules but uh this is just a
really a great honor for all of us. So thank you so much. Um just to an assist is when the person sets the ball and someone kills it. A kill is a a spike for a point. And if the other team spikes a ball at us, we dig the ball and
and that's a dig. So, Coach Albanese wanted a little bit of an explan. Oh, you we're looking for some coaches next year. >> All right. >> Would you like me to you want to call them? >> Um, what I'm going to do is first ask our
sister, uh, the principal of Mother Seat to come up. >> Introduce yourself, say a few words. I mean, we can't pass up this opportunity, this great success. >> So, I want to thank the township of Clark very much for this honor. This is so great. We're so excited to have our
volleyball team win this state uh tournament and uh there was state champions and we just keep bragging about it all over the place because we're just so happy and we're so happy with Mr. Moran because in his 29 years, how many wins? I missed that point. >> 351.
>> You made that up. Is it really? >> Yeah. 350 >> 351 wins in the 29 years. So, it's great. We're so happy to and not only do we have an outstanding varsity, we have an outstanding JV and an outstanding freshman team. So, we are very excited
uh to give that opportunity to our girls to participate in many sports. But volleyball is dear to my heart because many years ago I started the volleyball team and I coached it for 13 years and then I moved on. But so but congratulations. We're we're just
thrilled and thank you. We're so proud of Mr. Moran for all of his accomplishments and for his assistant coaches who are here. So um Brock is in the back. Yes. Um, Mr. Downey is there. He does.
>> Kevin is our um JV coach is is um >> Mr. Buoie is not here. >> No, Mr. Buoie is the freshman coach, but he's not here. And Jenna Mic is a volunteer coach also >> and an >> alumna of Mother Seatin as am I. All
right, enough enough about me. >> Okay, so right now we're going to give out the certificates. Tom's going to help me with that. And um Annabella Burns, >> congratulations. >> Why don't you open them up?
>> Yeah. Yeah, sure. Absolutely. >> Jasmine Cardinas. She's not. >> Okay. >> And Aaliyah Ramirez, >> Pier Prior, Prior Duffy. Madison
>> Madison Porter. >> She's not here. >> Gabby Sie is not here. >> And Isabelle is not here. >> Isabella Matias is not here. >> Janelle is not here. >> Janelle Jones. >> Faith is here. >> Faith
takes a big team to get this done. Bailey Donovan. >> Haley's here. >> JAY PAUL >> not here. >> Ellie Christomo. >> Addison Anderson. >> Okay.
>> On the way. I don't think he's here. >> Tom Moran. I have to mention They the internet got it wrong. They said 350, right? >> Speak into the microphone. Mayor, don't forget. >> Check the uh We didn't want to get too close to it. Okay. >> So, uh >> you said it's 351.
>> Yeah. 350 was the game before and then the championship was 351. >> We got to get that statistic. >> I didn't know. Thank you. >> We did verify things. I just want you to know that. >> All right. So, we have a few more. >> We have some more coaches here, I think. Yep.
Kevin Downey. >> We're gonna have to move on this side. Put some people on this side. Yeah, >> that's An Buouie. >> An buoy >> not here tonight. >> Okay. >> Rock >> Rock Jenna Mol. >> And these are our managers. They're not
here. >> Okay. We have the managers. Takes a lot to get this done. >> Eloise. >> Eloise. Yeah. >> Anya Zarna. >> Zaroda. >> Isabella from >> Isabella from >> Caitlyn Halqueno. >> Kaitton. >> Caitlyn.
>> Queno. >> Mia Pumada. >> Mia Pumrada. Wow. This is a big management team. and Isabelle Lopes. >> Isabelle Lopes. >> Yes. Takes a lot of managers to manage all those digs. >> Yes. Yes. >> And to calculate 350 wins.
>> Congratulations to everyone. We'd like to take some photos. I'd like the council to come down. Join us. And if we can have half the team members come over here. We'll get in front of the podium here. >> Nice. front
us. Yes. We want to see you back here next year, please. >> You want to give these to >> That's Ralph. This is all >> Yes. Um Tom or >> is this Tom's? >> No, >> that's Ralph. These are all Toms.
>> Tom. Thank you. >> Very good. >> Like that. >> Now, if you would like to join us for the meeting, you are welcome to. Otherwise, you can all leave and go celebrate.
>> Congratulations again. >> Oh, you're welcome. >> We have exams this week, so that's >> Yeah, you have to go home and study. exams. Sounds Thank you, Mr. President. Before
we resume, I just want to mention that I forgot to mention that um Councilman Miniti is absent tonight. >> Thank you. Okay. Can I get a motion to resume regular order of business? >> A motion. >> Thank you, Council Member Hoff. Can I
get a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Council Member Maserella. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Right now, I believe we're going to go into executive session. >> Executive resolution to go into executive session to conduct discussions
regarding litigation. Matthew J. Platkin versus Clark Township docket number UN-L-180-26. >> Can I get a motion? >> Thank you, Council Member Hoff. Get a second. >> Second. >> Thank you, Council Member Maserella. All in favor? >> Any opposed? All right. Time is 7:54
p.m. We'll be back. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Number Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.
Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Nat. Hey. Hey. Hey, hey, hey. Okay, I'd like a motion to resume the
public meeting. >> Thank you, Councilman Tol. I get a second. >> Second it. >> Thank you, Council Member Hoff. All in favor? >> I. >> Any oppose? Let the time read 8:35 p.m. Okay. Now, we're going to move on to communications from the mayor, reports
of township officers. Mayor Bon Cororso. I'm Mayor Bonorso. That's we just mayor Albanesey's >> Thank you, Mr. President. Um the first thing I want to say is on behalf of myself and the township employees
like to express our condolences to Edie Merkel on the passing of her mom um Joan Laser who passed away last week. Um our prayers and thoughts are with the family and uh Godspeed.
Um, I'd like to mention that um, we've published online our township resident guide. This is a hard copy, but we'd like people to access the guide online. I don't know why we have that feedback.
Um, put it away further. Um, so that is available. Has a lot of good information if you're new in town. gives you all the information about um township collections, events, um information about the pool, grass pickup, leaf
pickup, etc. Um next, I'd like to thank our public works department. It's been very challenging on the township because seems like every weekend we've had a storm or some event, but um thank you for the salt spreading this weekend and
uh clearing of the snow and uh we're all braced for the cold weather that's coming up. Um, finally, uh, you're probably aware that the New Jersey Attorney General's Office, Division of Civil Rights, filed a complaint against the township
on January 15th. I issued a statement regarding the complaint that was filed. At this time, I'd like to give you an update regarding actions the township is t taking, which will hopefully address some of the questions you may have.
We're in the process of reviewing with our attorneys the complaint that was filed. As an initial response, we're deeply troubled by the allegations and find reprehensible the comments allegedly made by then Mayor Salon Corso and Officer Moss.
The comments and actions alleged in this complaint do not represent the township, its town council, the township employees, or the Clark Police Department. And on behalf of the township, we will vigorously fight these allegations.
Because this is now an active litigation, we've been advised by council to reserve any comment on the substance of the complaint. However, we would note that in July 2020, the attorney general's office in response to the alleged comments made by then mayor
Salvan Corso and Chief Moss superseded control of the Clark Police Department to the Attorney General to run the day-to-day operation of the police department. During that super session, the Attorney General's office thoroughly reviewed
policy and procedures, personnel issues, operational issues, and conducted an extensive internal review of the Clark Police Department. After almost 5 years, in March of 25, in a letter authorized by New Jersey Attorney General Mat
Matthew Platkin, control of the Clark Police Department was relinquished back to the township under the officer in charge, Miguel Agabu. In fact, in his letter to Miguel Akabu, our officer in charge, Mr. Platin said, "Over the past
four years, the Union County Prosecutor's Office has successfully initiated numerous reforms to improve the police department. With your help being instrumental in those efforts to Miguel Agabal, I hope the end of the super session begins a positive new
chapter for your department and I look forward to the work you and the executive director Abasi will continue to achieve during your tenure as the leader of the Clark Police Department. So that letter established a monitorship by executive director Abasi requiring
periodic assessments which the township welcomed and did not oppose and have been going on. Notwithstanding the almost 5-year super session where the attorney general was running the Clark Police Department and no findings were made that raised any
concerns. The attorney now now files this civil complaint within days of his term end as attorney general coming to an end. We maintain that the township of Clark is a welcoming place for all who visit
and live here and are always looking to do our best to serve our community. That concludes my report. >> Great. Thank you, Council Member Huff. Sorry. Um I have the report from the library.
Um I was very excited. I got to uh participate with the library um as a full member now and finding out all of the things that they're doing. They're going to be celebrating the 60th anniversary of the library this year. So there are a lot of um amazing events that are going to be planned for that
and a lot of um different ways that it's going to be celebrating that. but also the 250th anniversary of the country. And if you're a Hamilton fan, just at minimum, there's several things that are taking place um in regards to um that are going to be coming through the
library. So, that was very exciting. Um this month, December had a total of 7,189 visitors and a little over 5,500 website video uh visits. The New Jersey Revolutionary Rivalry is happening on
February 3rd. Friends of the Library is having a jewelry book and puzzle sale on Saturday, December uh excuse me, February 7th. And Unique Creatures, which is take your child to the library day, which is not suggesting your children are Unique Creatures. It's
suggesting that um you get to meet Unique Creatures when you bring your children to the library on Saturday, February 22nd. And that concludes my report. >> Council member Hund. I apologize. You
>> want me to come back to you? I can go and get it. >> Just had to pick it up. My monthly report for the police department for December 2025. I saw a total of 1,723 calls, 654 which came via 911 call, excuse me, 911
calls for service, including but not limited to 153 ambulance requests, 69 alarm calls, one arrival call, which is for mental health requests, zero on attempted burglary, 30 fire department requests, six
fraud/identity thefts, three motor vehicle and residential lockouts, 65 motor vehicle accidents, 22 shoplifting and thefts. There was a total of 23 adult arrests, including but not limited to eight for
warrants, 10 for shoplifting. The Youth Aid Bureau handled a total of five cases, including but not limited to one for simple assault, three for shoplifting, and one for all other. That concludes my police department report.
Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Maserella. >> Yes. Thank you, Council President. It's my DPW report for this evening. Branch and leaf pickup is complete for 2025 season. Please do not put any branches
or leaves out. The DPW will not pick them up. Uh electronic drop off will resume January 31st at um uh 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the
DPW facility behind this building and um your identification will be required. Okay. Uh Christmas tree pickup starts January 5th, started January 5th and will end on the 26th. Please remove all
decorations and tree stands and no plastic bags. Please remove all basketball and soccer nets from the roadway. There is a township ordinance prohibits this um for those
items in the roadway. It will also prevent damage to equipment, avoid accidental damage, makes the road safer and allow DPW to sweep. And with the impending storms coming, plow the roads thoroughly and safely. So if there's any
other information you need, please email dpw@ourclark.com for more information. Thank you. >> Thank you, Council Member Okconor. >> Thank you very much. Um, from the finance committee, we continue to be able to meet our current obligations. and from the Clark volunteer emergency
squad. Uh the squad activities for late November December. The squad participated in the township's holiday lights event. An ambulance was stationed at the football games. Squad participated in a holiday tree in the hallways of town hall. Installation of 2026 officers was held on December 7th
with Mayor Albany swearing in the officers. Length of service awards, appreciation awards, and life savings awards were all presented. The call volume November had 139 calls with four mutual aids. This does not include any calls that were not dis that were dispatched and not and canceled on.
November total hours responding to calls was approximately 917 man hours. This does not include any hours the members were on duty when not on calls. December had 128 calls with two mutual aids. This does not include any calls uh which were dispatched on and then canceled on.
November total hours responding to calls is approximately 832. This does not include any hours other members were on duty on calls. I'm assuming she meant December. Uh for total for the year 2025 call volume was 1,439 calls. Um total
approximate man hours 9,498 hours. This does not include any hours the members were on duty when not on calls. Again this is volunteer membership. At this time all cadet positions are filled and we are keeping a waiting list u accepting applications
for those 18 years and older free CPR driving and EMT training. Anyone interested can email them at www.ourclock. ourclock.org or membership at clarkkems.org. The squad hosted five blood drives in November and December respectfully submitted. Lorie Sheldon, trustee. That
concludes my reports. Thank you. >> Thank you, Council Member Do. >> Thank you, Mr. President. From the Environmental Commission, and Mark Hayden, the chairman. Uh, I spoke to Mark earlier and he basically asked me to remind the residents tomorrow night, January the 21st, Wednesday. The
environmental commission will be h conducting its first full meeting for the calendar year of 2026. And at the meeting, they're going to have a simple discussion of what is the agenda for the rest of the calendar year. Normally in April, the Roy River cleanup is conducted under the toutelage of Joe
Zebo. Joe has been is a member of our commission and he gives out valent hours to help clean up the northern portion of Clark. Then in the fall we do the reservoir cleanup. So if you're not I know it's this is a live feed tonight but if you're watching live feed and you'll probably miss it but there'll be
a report available in the clerk's office. But again if you have nothing on the plan for your schedules tomorrow you want to stop in in room 30 at the history room in Brewer. you're welcome to join us and have a discussion of how to make Clark a cleaner and greener community. With that, thank you, Mr.
President. That's all I've got. >> Great. Thank you. From the recreation department, uh this past Saturday night, uh January 17th was the annual family skate night at Warreno Park. There was over 150 residents who took place and
had a great time. Uh Thursday, January 29th is the Devil's Night at the Credential Center in Newark. As of now, we sold over a hundred tickets. Uh, and there's still time to get more. You just have to go on the Devil's website and click on Clark. Uh, we're halfway
through the Wreck basketball and indoor soccer season. There's over 500 uh, children registered in both programs. Uh, all winter wreck programs are in full swing, and the spring programs and events will come out in late February.
If you have any questions on any program, you could contact Ralph Bernardo or Emberly Emily Lambert in the recreation department at 732-4288400. Right. All these uh reports will be uh available in the clerk's office and on the website. Now we're going to move on
to ordinances, appropriations, and claims. >> No objections have been received in conjun in connection with the proposed ordinances. Ordinance 2601, an ordinance entitled an ordinance to fix minimum and maximum
salaries. >> This time I'll open the meeting to the public if anyone would like to come forward on this ordinance. >> Okay, seeing no one, I like a motion to close the public hearing. >> Thank you, Council Member Tol and thank you, Council Member Hun. All in favor?
>> Any opposed? Councelor. >> Uh, thank you, Mr. Council President. Uh since uh this ordinance 2601 was introduced on January 5, 2026, it was determined that material changes to the ordinance were necessary, namely adding
the position of senior custodial worker and revising the minimum hourly rate for hourly workers. Uh the the second change being consistent with state law. Uh procedurally uh the public hearing on ordinance 2601 was just concluded and it
is the recommendation of the administration and myself that the council introduced the proposed amended ordinance which was included at with uh with your packages uh and include the revisions that I've just described. So procedurally, there would be a motion to
introduce ordinance 2601 as amended, then a second, then any discussion regarding the amendment. Uh that would be followed by the clerk issuing the notice of introduction and uh another public hearing at your February 2
meeting uh on the amended ordinance. So that is as I said the recommendation of uh myself and the administration. Um there is a similar procedure that is being recommended for ordinance 2603. Um however the administrator will
address that that ordinance. Um does anyone have any questions on what is being recommended? >> I do not see any. Okay. >> So you said 2603. >> Turn your microphone. >> This is 2601. this there's a similar
amendment that is being proposed for 2603. It's just the procedure that is going to be the same different amendment. >> 2603 is >> yes but we're working right now on 2601. >> Okay.
>> Right. >> Is there a motion to introduce the amended ordinance? So >> an amended ordinance creating the position of senior custodial worker 03289 at sign and amending the minimum maximum
salaries. >> I get a motion. >> Thank you council member Tol. Thank you council member Hund. >> The public hearing will be on February 2nd. >> Uh we have to do a roll call. >> Council member Hoff. >> Yes. >> Council member Hun. >> Yes.
>> Council member Maserella. >> Yes. Council member Okconor, >> yes. >> Council member Matl, yes. >> Council President Smith, >> yes. >> And >> Ordinance 2602, an ordinance establishing a human resources department in creating the positions of
personnel aid 02 02645, personnel assistant 022648, and senior personnel assistant personnel assistant 04982. >> Okay. At this time, I will open up the meeting to the public on this ordinance
and this ordinance only. You'll have five minutes of duration if you'd like to come forward. >> Okay, seeing no, I'd like a motion to close the public hearing. Thank you, Council Member Tol. Okay, get a second. >> Second, please. >> Thank you, Council Member Hun. All in favor? >> At this time, I need a motion to adopt
the ordinance. >> Move that, please. >> Thank you, Council Member Hun. And can I get a second? >> I'll second it. Thank you, Council Member Maserella. Any uh discussion or questions? Jim, do you have anything to add? It's pretty self-explanatory. Okay. Roll call, please. >> Council member Hoff,
>> yes. >> Council member Hund, >> yes. >> Council member Maserella, >> yes. >> Council member Okconor, >> yes. >> Council member Tol, >> yes. >> Council President Smith, >> yes. Ordinance 2603, an ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation
limits and to establish a cap bank NJSA4A 4-45.14. >> Thank you. Okay. Good. At this time, I will open the meeting to the public on this ordinance and this ordinance only. If anyone would like to come forward, you have five minutes in duration.
>> Okay. Seeing no one like a motion to close the public hearing. >> Motion. Thank you, Council Member Tolk. I get a second. Council member Maserella. All in favor? Any opposed? Jim. >> Yes. So, um, this is similar to as we
discussed in 2601. We're going to, um, you know, we have to make a change based on, you know, the calculation for the state. And what we're going to be asking for is that you we have the ordinance
move over which is um 26023 that um the clerk will read and the public meeting for this will be on February 17th. Again, this is how we calculate our cola. No different than what we discussed at the last meeting. However, the calculation um requirements
have uh we have to make an update to it. >> Great. Thank you. Okay. Hey, do you want to read 4A? >> Uh 2603 amended an ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a cap bank
NJSA4A 4-45.14. >> Can I get a motion? >> Yes, I'll move it. >> Thank you, Council Member Maserella. I get a second. >> I'll second it. >> Thank you, Council Member Okconor. Anyone else have any questions or discussion?
Okay, roll call, please. Council member Hoff, >> yes. >> Council member Huns, >> yes. >> Council member Maserella, >> yes. >> Council member Okconor, >> yes. >> Council member Tol, >> yes. >> Council President Smith, >> yes. >> And the public hearing for this will be on February 17th.
>> When you're ready, we can move to introduction of proposed ordinances. 2604, an ordinance authorizing the use of the Township of Clark owned fuel dispensing facilities by the Clark Volunteer Emergency Squad, Inc. >> Can I get a motion?
>> Thank you, Council Member Hoff. Can I get a second? >> I'll second that, please. >> Thank you, Council Member Hun. Any uh discussion or questions? Jim, anything to add? Pretty self-explanator. We discussed last time. Um, you know, there's no issue here. It's just that we want to have it documented that they are
allowed to use the um gas or diesel pumps and gas pumps at no charge. Uh there was an issue with some other municipality Tom River that they went after the ambulance squad for these type of charges and we have no intention of doing it. We just want to memorialize it
in an ordinance. >> Great. Thank you. Roll call, please. >> Council member Hoff, >> yes. >> Council member Hunt, >> yes. >> Council member Maserella, >> yes. Council member Okconor. >> Yes. >> Council member Tol. >> Yes. >> Council President Smith. >> Yes. >> And the public hearing on this will be
on February 2nd. >> Now we'll move to payment of claims. Council member Okconor. >> Thank you. I have reviewed the bills for the month totaling $766,336.40. >> Great. Thank you. Okay. At this time, we're going to move to citizens hearing on the agenda. I'll open the meeting to the public. The public comment portion
of the meeting is to allow the public to bring to the council's attention their concerns or comments in accordance with NJSA10 col4-12A and the code of township of Clark. Each person addressing the council should give their name and town in which they reside to the clerk. All
remarks shall be addressed to the council as a body and shall not exceed 5 minutes in duration. At the conclusion of the statements or questions from a member of the public, the council president his or her discretion may choose to respond or not respond. So if anyone would like to come forward uh
speak about any agenda item that does not have a public hearing, please do so. >> Good evening. Michael Schulman, 382 Carolina Street. I'd like a really a question I guess on consent agenda
resolution number 12 uh authorizing the award of a non-fair open contract for the appointment of a public relations and communications firm and I pulled the actual resolution. It is silent as to the purpose of the contract. I was wondering
if someone could explain why the town is hiring a PR firm. When you're finished, we'll answer your questions. You have anything else? >> I'm finished. I have a That's the question. >> All right. You done with your five minutes or you want to stand up there for? >> No, I'm reserving the time because it's
not in the resolution. >> Um Jim, do you want to address it or you want >> followup once I have the information? It's not in the resolution. >> Want me to take it? >> Sure. >> Okay. So I mean the primary responsibility is going to be you know given this new situation in the past the
township was not a named defendant in any of these cases right so we are bringing in a firm to assist in you know working with press releases ensuring that you know there's no miscommunication that any contentious statements that are made by anybody
outside of the municipality is addressed understanding all of the background around the responsibilities of everybody who's you know been named in this is also going to be addressed in these type of press releases. It's really to
provide strategic guidance on you know how we should be handling this. Again, it's a different situation um now versus the past. And you know, everybody in, you know, the communications department,
administration, you know, has other jobs and we are going to be in a in a position to use them at our leisure when there are issues or concerns that we need to have addressed. >> Thank you, Jim. I would like to reclaim
my time because I had a feeling it was about the newest lawsuit and I imagine we need a PR firm because I heard the mayor's comment and I read in essence what was said earlier this week and it says the unfortunate and reprehensible
comments of a handful of police department employees that occurred nearly a decade ago. And I understand why the PR firm is needed because I it's a swing and a miss wasn't a few comments. The lawsuit's very clear and the history of this the last five years
is clear. It's been systematic systematic between the police and the folks sitting at that right that desk right there up until last year. And it wasn't a few people. It was everybody. And it wasn't decades ago. We just said it. You just got your police force back.
So you can't count the last 5 years when Clark didn't run its police department and say, "Look how great of a job we did." We're going to look at the time period when you had people in charge, none of which are allowed to be there right now. So, I understand why we're
getting a PR firm. Uh, but again, all of this could have been fixed. Here's here's PR advice for you, and I'm not going to charge you $30,000. Say racism is bad. Don't wait 5 years to say the not just words, but the actions of our former
mayor and our still not working police chief were disgusting. You didn't say it then, right? And I stood up here. >> Council President, I'm not sure what this has to do with the agenda. >> It has to do with item number 12, your PR.
>> Continue, Mr. Schulman. Good. So maybe if we took the steps and actually fixed the problem, you wouldn't have to spend more money to be told what? Don't hire people and continue to
support people who break the law and violate people's civil rights. This isn't a difficult notion. I'm expecting better. We'll talk again at the public part of the meeting at the end. Thank you. Anyone
like else like to come forward on agenda items? Okay, seeing no one a motion to close this portion. >> Thank you, Council Member Okconor. Can I get a second? >> Thank you, Council Member Huff. All in
favor? >> Any opposed? All right. Now, we're going to move on to consent agenda resolutions. >> The following resolutions 20 numbers 2649 through 2655 are considered routine and non-controversial items by the
township council and will be enacted upon one motion. There will be no separate vote on these items unless a council member so requests in which the event the item will be removed from the consent agenda to be discussed and voted on following the approval of the
remaining items listed on the consent agenda. Number six, authorizing the mayor and/or business administrator to execute an addendum to the union council 8 agreement representing bluecollar employees through December 31st, 2027
restricting vacation leave during the period of November 1st through November 30th to ensure adequate staffing for critical operational demands. Number seven, authorizing payment number one, including change orders to the Montana construction for posttorm damage
work at various locations in the amount of $757,000 8957. Number eight, amending resolution to correct the name of the Q of the firm for QPA. Number nine, authorizing the municipal
tax assessor to file tax appeals and road roll backs. Number 10, authorizing and ratifying the action taken by the health officer to enter into an agreement with Atlantic Health System for Health Education
Services in an amount not to exceed $14,625. Number 11, extending the pool maintenance contract with Aquatic Services, Inc. for an additional one-year term at the sole option of the township in accordance with the 2024 bid
specifications. Number 12, authorizing the award of a non-fair and open contract for the appointment of a public relations and communications firm. >> Thank you. Can I get a motion to adopt the consent agenda? >> Mot. >> Thank you, Council Member Tol. Can I get
a second? I'll second it. >> Thank you. Council member Maserella. Roll call, please. >> Council member Hoff, >> yes. >> Council member Hun, >> yes. >> Council member Maserella, >> yes. >> Council member Okconor, >> yes. >> Council member Tol, >> yes. >> Council President Smith,
>> yes. >> Okay, looks like there's no standalone resolutions and there's no new business on the calendar. >> Correct. >> All right, we'll move to public comments. At this time, I'll open the meeting to the public. The public comment portion of the meeting is to allow the public to bring to the council's attention their concerns or
comments in accordance with NJSA10 col4-12A and the code of the township of Clark. Each person addressing the council should give their name and the town in which they reside to the clerk or remark shall be addressed to the council as a body and shall not exceed 5 minutes in duration. At the conclusion of the
statements or questions from a member of the public, the council president his or her discretion may choose to respond or not respond. So if anyone would like to come forward, please do so. Dan Fuches, Clark, New Jersey. Uh yeah, Mike's right. We don't need a PR firm
for this. I mean, I came up here for years and asked you to say something. You didn't say anything and here we are in all these things that keep going on in this town. As the leaders of this town, you need to separate all these allegations from the town. We need to move forward. In the mayor's statement
that was emailed out to the town, it referred to a few a few police officers that said something and nothing about S. I don't understand how he still has a spell on you guys. You have to you have to he is a stain on this town. We need
to separate him and and and everything that has happened under him. You need to clean house. Anyone that's left left on the police force that's in this complaint, they have to go. We need to do better. And you guys barely say anything. You need to separate the
racism that has gone on from what this town can be. So, I don't know what else to say on this anymore, but I do know like I get it's just very frustrating to have to have this conversation with you guys
over and over for so many years. I know we can do better than this. And I don't know why there's just this refusal to do so. So, I don't know, maybe come out with a stronger statement. I know those officers, they lost their court case. I hope you're firing them soon. And anyone
else that distinct remains from S has to go. Let's let's take a more aggressive step, clean house, speak up, and talk about how we're not that we're not that town anymore. Cuz it feels like we're stuck and the reputation of this town is
just taking a beating. Thank you. Once again, Michael Schulman, 382 Carolina Street. I think it's important for the people who watch this and listen to this to know that the complaint is not just a
regurgitation of the allegations from last year and the year before that resulted in criminal convictions against Mr. Bonorso. But what this town did after no longer being controlled by Union County Prosecutor's Office and the AG's office
is it retained a police director that is all consumed in these allegations. cludes that cap when he was captain, Captain Grady engaged in the same use of slurs, insults, and derogatory language when referring to black people in the
course of their employment, including in conversations with subordinate CPD Clark police officers. That's directly from all this is going to be directly from the complaint that as internal affairs as the head of internal affairs as a captain the
allegations by multiple Clark police officers is that internal affairs complaints made by black motorists of this town were ignored and for outf then Captain Grady also had a close relationship with former mayor Bana Corso
one officer interviewed by the Civil Rights Division recounted an occasion when police union members were discussing a contract with Clark Township where Grady screamed at the room full of his fellow officers and union members, expressing his frustration with them for not accepting the contract Mayor Bora Corso had had
proposed. Grady said to the group of Clark Police Department officers, "If S wants me to blow him, I'll blow him." And proceeded to get on his knees and just sticulate what he had described. A second former officer interviewed corroborated the statement. Some more PR
advice. It's an Atwell employee. Fire him. That's disgusting. It's unbelievable that this has to come out. The other shoe dropped. You knew it was coming. You knew there were tapes. You knew there was an investigation.
Over and over again, it talks about our police director. You put somebody in charge of a police department with the eyes and the ears of the person who had to plead guilty. So I don't know what you're going to do besides the same old same old. But as
you do the same old same old, you are giving a permission structure to everyone out there who is racist and bigoted that this is an okay place to be proud of that. That this is somewhere a safe haven for hatred.
And it's an awful experience to see those types of comments from our residents. Not a few, unfortunately, way too many. And then everybody else say, "This isn't even news. We knew all this."
Dan's right. Court case is over. Let's get those disciplinary hearings done. Let's move on those. We have a new town attorney who doesn't have a member of his firm who was probably going to be disbarred from after giving bad advice to your council. But you also have a police director who
is directly involved in this complaint. Do something about it. Change the narrative. You can do it yourselves. I hope I hope you finally are getting it. When you ignore this stuff, yeah, is it politically motivated? Probably.
But when you continue to call this nonsense and not realize it's true, it's going to you're going to keep coming after us. And I'm tired of having them come after us. I want to see you guys make actual progress. Thank you. >> Anyone else like to come forward before
we close? I'm Lean Yandro, 1722A WTover Road. Uh, I am a lifelong resident of Clark. Uh, a graduate of ALJ. I went to high school with Jesse. Um, I'm a registered Democrat. I'm so sorry for that. I grew
up lit dropping with former mayor Ellenport. Um, but Jesse will tell you that she and I agree on 82.7% of local issues facing this town. I'm really quite a centrist and I consider myself to be like the average citizen
here who doesn't really fall strongly one way or the other in most times. So, I feel like my opinion has some value here. Um, in Jesse's other life as a real estate agent, she has I have begged her to find me a home outside of town
several times. Um, because in my lifetime here, I love my friends. I love my neighbors. Uh, there's some amazing teachers and administrators in our schools. I do feel like our police department, all of our officers in
general keep us safe. Our fire department, our emergency department, our recreation department. I think Ralph left. Our recreation department is the best for miles around. There are many benefits to this town, but it is sometimes embarrassing to say that we
live here. Um, because it feels like so little is done and acknowledged about what is quite an open secret in our town. Um, and I think that people don't think that they're racist because they're not overt racists, right? They
don't dislike black people. Um, it's never that simple. It's the implicit racism that's built into how we run our schools and how we run our police department and what kind of comments are okay. Um, and I have to say
that I think S was a good mayor for many years. He protected the interests of this town really well. He put us first all the time. He earned my vote several times. I also voted for Mike when he ran against Sal when S clear clearly shouldn't have run again because his
time was up and that was a spectacle that did not need to occur. Um and then in the most recent runoff, Angel got my vote because I truly believe that Angel can turn it around. I've heard people say they think Angel's Sal's puppet. I don't believe that's true. I think Angel
has put herself, Mayor Albanese has put herself out there to be heard by she's made herself involved in the community, made her been available for discussions. I feel like she listens to people. So, I feel like you all have the right people
in place to turn our situation around now. But like Mike just said, we can't keep saying like that this is just political maneuvering by a man who's mad at us and we have to at some point turn around and say
that the comments the these allegations are abhorrent. Basically what Mayor Alban said at the beginning of this meeting, you said here, but I I wish we had seen that more strongly in your written statement. um to just stop defending anything and just say the what
what these allegations was of what happened in the past were abhorentt and we're not going to tolerate that in our future. Get those disciplinary hearings going. Get the people out who need to be out. And then I don't know how much time I have left, but I have one more thing to add. Um according to you can Google many sites
on the internet. UNICEF would be one of them. One of the best ways to combat racism in a town is to start with the kids, right? to start with the children and teach them how to love, accept other people, work with other people because we cannot change 65-year-old white men who have been the way that they have
been since forever. But we can change our children. Um, and when my children took their first bus ride to comf as 11 year olds, um, they came home flabbergasted at the number of times they heard the n-word on the bus.
lesb, just the number of derogatory things thrown around by the and and 11-year-olds only say those things when they hear them in their homes, right? My kids were abhored by it because they don't hear that in our home. So, how do you fix that? Right? Our district does
not now and never has had any form of I do will not say DEI, please. um cultural sensitivity, awareness of any kind at a district level through our schools. We don't acknowledge Black History Month. We don't acknowledge Hispanic awareness
month. We don't acknowledge um >> You have 30 seconds. Just >> women's history month, any of those things. And last year, two of my Girl Scouts proposed a silver award project at Comf that involved starting a club that they wanted to call the Clark Culture Club uh to start promoting those
events at the middle school level within our town for students to join and they had a staff member who was willing to help them and then little by little um they got delayed, they got pushed off, it wasn't going to happen and they finally had to give up on their project. But I feel like that is a much cheaper
way in than a PR firm is to just start encouraging some diversity and cultural s cultural awareness at the school level. And that is all and thank you for all you do. >> Thank you. Anyone else?
Okay. Seeing no one, a motion to close this portion of the meeting. >> Thank you, Council Member Hoff. I get a second. >> Second. >> Thank you, Council Member Okconor. All in favor? Any opposed? Okay, now we'll move on to mayor, council, and professional comments.
Mayor Albanesey's just reflecting on what was heard um here this evening and um just one comment I want to make about the response that we had to come up with when we got that complaint delivered to
us um was done very rapidly and um you know we will continue to um continue with what I mentioned earlier this evening and if there is anything to report, we will report it.
Um, as far as the uh or the resolution on the um dates that we changed with the regard to the union, uh that related to leaf pickup, just so it's clear to the that we mutually agreed with the union to get the leaf pickup done and then that's followed by the branch pickup.
And that concludes my comments. Thank you. >> Thank you, Council Member Huff. First, I want to say congratulations to Ralph. He's our local national treasure. Um, I love that we all know what we know and that he is absolutely I love that
everyone else knows what we already know. Uh, and that he's the absolute best. Um, I also got to see Mother Seen's volleyball team play and they were amazing. So, I thought that that was great tonight. Um, as a DPW wife, not in Clark, in another town, I'll always say thank you to them for the cleanups that they've done with the
storms and and our um emergency services. stay safe and rest up for what might be coming. Um, I do want to say that I very much appreciate the mayor and our administration for having the foresight while doing the business of
the town to help overcome some of the negative attention. Um, and I'm going to say um, you know, that there's we're not talking about a a a political group
posting um, you know, whatever. We're not talking about Stronger Clark sitting here posting in Clark Neighbors or any of these Facebook pages. We're talking about a PR firm that needs to be given because you, Leanne, said what you believe about this town and I've heard other people say it. Um, it is it's a
town filled with really good people and this small portion um I don't get why like there was laughter when when the attorney was up here talking about all his statements and his counterpart was laughing back there. I I don't know if it's intentional that you know as a
lawyer you say things that you have to know are wrong or if they're just you know if it's just bad in general. Um, you know, there's people starring in documentaries about this town, making it picking the worst moments that happened and putting it out there, posting on
NJ.com and and ABC News stuff that, you know, is in our local community page. Um, I don't want that. This is scabpicking that has gone on by this organization for so long that I literally think that's part of the
reason why this town needs that. Also, you have a mayor and administration who are endeavoring completely to be transparent and put information out there. And this is a we're in the middle of litigation. We're not allowed to say stuff. Schulman, Mr. Schulman, you know that you're a lawyer. So, the fact that
the administration is getting help to make sure that the messages are being communicated to the community in the best way possible, that's so I thank you for doing that. I appreciate that this is the direction you're taking the township in. Um, and I also want to say I appreciate everything that Mayor Albany said in her opening statements
tonight. Um, understanding that the the the statement that came out right after this thing on the 15th was what 2 days, 24 hours, 48 hours old, that a statement was released. And now another one was released today, which quite frankly I think says everything you all want to hear. And I will say unequivocally I
agree with everything that the mayor said. So there is no like shortage of feeling the frustration of all of that that's going on, but at the same time constantly posting and spreading the
worst parts of this really good town on every single national news post is literally just reeks of desperation, reeks of a desire to be relevant because all you are doing is picking at the scabs of this and continuing. You know, you said things like, "We we want to
keep going forward and we want to move on and we want to continue to do things." Then maybe let us maybe help support the town and use your Facebook pages to talk about all the good things. I hope to see that you celebrate Mother Satan tomorrow. I hope to see that you
celebrate the cleanup from the from the storms and the Ralph Bernardo and the awards that he wins because that quite frankly is what this town needs. There's a lot of good things out there and I'm concerned that the constant negativity that is coming from outside sources
when everyone I think is on the same page with feeling the frustration and and the aborant comments and everything else that's included out here at this point. Like I don't want to worry about people
telling people they're from Clark. I don't want to worry about uh whatever. I I I hope that we can move on to a more positive place and again I I support the mayor completely in your statement that you made tonight and I thank you for doing so. >> Council member Hund.
>> Thank you, Mr. Mr. President. Um just want to reiterate raised the microphone up to talk into it. Thank you. >> I'm in trouble again, huh? Um, want to congratulate Ralph on the well-deserved award. As we all know, he gives plenty to the town. I won't repeat everything
and go on to it because Jess pretty much covered all of that. So, congratulations to Ralph. Congratulations to the mother seat volleyball team for for their tremendous accomplishments they achieved this year. Um, I was unaware of their achievements. sort of hear that tonight that they won the state championship.
That's a a momentous occasion for any team, any school. Um our we haven't won a state title. I think we won one in softball a few years ago, but it's been a long time. Our basketball team went to this the championship game and lost. So even though they're not Arthur L.
Johnson, they are a school of Clark. So we all should be proud of what they've accomplished. Um, thank you to the mayor for her statement earlier today regarding the situation of the new civil suit that we have. And
part of the reason for having the PR firm is to educate as we're moving forward. We're working on improving Clark's image, improving how people perceive Clark because yes, there may be I don't think the whole town is racist.
I don't think anyone in here could say that the town is a totally racist town. Everyone sitting here. I know that we're not. So, we need to, as you address, start with the children, you know, from that age point, but we also have to let the people outside of the residents know
besides the residents know that we're working to improve on ourselves as we always should be. So now we want people outside of Clark not to to be aware that we are not that township that from 20
years ago that was profiling people of of color. Um but that's part of the reason for having the PR firm. So we have it spread out more than just for the town. So that that's all I have to say. And also on uh we're expecting a
large storm on Saturday. So, everyone be safe and uh hopefully we get through the storm without too many inches of snow. Thank you, >> Council Member Maserella. >> Yes. Thank you, Council President. Uh firstly, I want to congratulate Ralph Bernardo
and um also the Mother Satan volleyball u girls volleyball team. A job well done and excellent. Um, I want to extend my
appreciation and um, support for our mayors and our administrators direction on taking a PR firm. That is the right um, procedure to follow to get a more transparent
response um, to um, our residents. Um, you know, ladies and gentlemen, I have lived in this community um since 1989. Through the years, I've
seen this township grow into a community like no other. We are a family community that comes together. um when our neighbors are in need or a simple helping hand. we've seen it
evolved into this type of community that's caring and um I take exception to individuals that come up that focus on a negative
um totally and not seeing all the positives that we have done as a community and a community family coming together. Um, I wish that this PR firm will give uh
those that are questioning um word on council not to divulge any information the right blend of comments they want to see. I I believe it would because it'll give a more transparent
perspective on the process that we are taking. Um to our DPW staff, you're doing an excellent job on cleaning our our township roadways. But please, ladies and gentlemen, we will be um
having some pretty significant storms coming coming down with in a few days. Um hopefully hopefully it wouldn't be too severe, but if it's a sizable snow, please adhere to our ordinance on having
your vehicles removed from the roadways so our um DBW staff could clean the road sufficiently and make it a safer environment to travel and walk through. Until next month, be safe. God bless.
Thank you, >> Council Member Okconor. >> Thank you very much. Uh Jess, great comments. Um I couldn't agree with you more on what you had to say. I think uh focusing on the negative styy's growth. I also think it breeds an attitude of
helplessness. Um moving forward is where we're is the direction we are currently heading on as in present tense, not the future. That's what we're doing now. the mayor, the business administrator, they are taking the
correct steps to move forward. The PR firm will help eliminate any miscommunication. Council meetings are coming down to what words are being used as opposed to
intent. Okay? And what I mean by that, if one word is said incorrectly, it's picked up on and it is exacerbated or extrapolated, however, whatever word you want to use, down a negative path.
These firms again are wellversed in being clear, concise, so no misrepresentation or no misinterpretation, excuse me, no misinterpretation can be taken. Okay.
Angel is a part-time mayor. She has a full-time job getting calls and emails from whomever and whatever for responses, statements, things like that.
Jim has a full-time job as a BA running this town doing a very good job. Again, emails, phone calls, questions, he needs to do his job as well. When you say PR
firm, the implication is why do you need a PR firm? Why can't you do this yourself? Hey, we needed help and we reached out. Now we're being lambasted for that. That makes no sense. We're trying to do
better. We're being ridiculed for it. But then we're ridiculed for doing nothing. We're moving forward. I'm sorry you don't like the speed or you don't like the fact that we are because it doesn't fit your narrative, but we're moving forward. We're doing
good. We're getting better. And in life, that's what everybody's goal should be. Every day, get up, do better, and get better. I'm going to move on to some other topics. Now, congratulations, Ralph. Congratulations to the girls volleyball
team from Mother Seat. But there's one thing that I'd like to bring up, and I've seen a lot of news reports on this, and I'm quoting a lot of different sources here, so I apologize not for including them all, but um on January 19th, the New Jersey enacted the new legislation S4834
A6235 that redefined ebike regulations statewide. I know we'd had the conversation in town about um ebikes, recklessness, young kids. We've had people come up talk about it. Well, now there's a state
law now requires licensing, registration, insurance for most ebikes, treating them like motorized vehicles with riders needing to be at least 17. Okay? Or 15 with a special license and banned for those under 15. So, one day
short of 15, you can't ride an ebike. And again, this is my interpretation. I'm just reading the rules. Um, class one and class one and two ebikes under 20 m per hour were previously treated like regular bikes. The new law prompted by safety concerns now mandates stricter rules for most ebikes, including helmets
for riders under 17 and restrictions on sidewalks. Now, if you're 17 and have a driver's license, you don't need a special license. But if you're 17 and older and don't have a driver's license, you're going to need a special license. And again, I am not professing. I know the law 100%. I'm giving you some
information. Do your research. Ebikes are considered vehicles and must follow all standard traffic regulations including riding with traffic and obeying signals. Um that's the pretty much gist of it from what I read I believe and I don't know if anybody wants to comment that I think there's 6
months before it comes into effect. So again um for those who have ebikes for those uh obviously there's need to be some changes in um in your in your riding style as well as uh whether or not you can ride. Do you need a helmet? Do you need a license? registration
insurance and whatnot, but I'm just making people aware that there is something out there. So, please look into it before you invest in an ebike or um send your child out on ebike without understanding the new rules and regulations. That concludes um my comments. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Council Member Tol. >> Thank you, Mr. President. I'm just going to go through them all. Ralph, again, Ralph doesn't need stuff. He came to Ralph's stuff tonight. I feel sorry for him because he deserves so much accolades and they get caught up in this nonsense. Ralph, we love you. Everything
you do, you're touching those young lives and helping those kids have so much fun. And that's the most important having in this community have fun. And right now, we need it more than ever. Mother Satan, Mother Seat, if you don't realize, is also in the fourth floor. Mother seat campus right off exit 135 is
a part of our community. Most people don't know about it, but it's there and it's a gem of New Jersey. And the girls here tonight are a part of that. Crystals and those beautiful gems. They're the future of New Jersey. And what a great job. And we're so proud of them. They made us proud tonight.
Another issue was brought up tonight. I'm going to put my mic on. I wanted to Pat Grady. Mr. Grady is my neighbor. He's also a good guy. When somebody comes up and starts bismerching him, either in hearsay or whatever, I'm going to come to his defense because he doesn't need
to be offended. He knows what he's done and hasn't done. I wasn't there. I don't know what's been said, but I know the person and the person was appointed to this position because he's earned it. He put in many years at the township police and he put in time at the county and
he's been a wonderful neighbor for the residents on Dorset Drive and always there for him. So, if you want to come up and make ridiculous comments and you're an attorney, that's fine. You got to say what you want. It's an open forum. You have your right. Do I agree with you? Absolutely not. And I'm going to come out in the opposite end of that and say he's a wonderful person. I'm
sorry he's involved in this issue. We're all been involved in this. And we can shut it down by saying what? We were told not to talk because it triggers a lot. You know who's the problem with this whole issue? Lawyers, this whole another field of litigation. Lawyers, they want to get involved. It's a sad
issue. It was a horrible issue. Should never have happened. Ridiculous. But it did. and we have to act to it and act by the legal rules and regulations. Now, this I just got dropped in tonight. I walked in. I wasn't aware of this. Joan Laser on the back of this room, if
you can scan in next to the officer is John Laser's name. He this courtroom and this dedic room was dedicated in his memory because he put time in designing and coordinating the the logistics to create this building. John Laser, there's always a woman behind the man.
It was brought up earlier. What about women? Well, women was Joan Lasa. They were from Cranford. But I had the strange I always ran into Joan Las over in the Cranford Library. I go and do research from time to time and I go from the Elizabeth County Library to Union
County, the different libraries and the different 21 municipalities in in Union County. And I was in Cranford all the time. And there was Joan Laser. And she goes, "What are you doing here? Did you get lost?" She was always a friendly face and saying, "Hey, speak to her. she'll get you the reference material you need. You're what you're looking
for. What a wonderful woman. And she was the support behind the man who put this building and did a lot of great things for the town. Now, John Laser was John Lacy. You had to get to know him. And it took me several years to get to know him. But again, you see in the reflection of what his daughter was and
her his family and to Jack and to Edie, my deepest condolences on lost your mom. I really feel bad because I just found out about I would have been at the services and paid my respect properly. With that said, we are we are a better community than what we're showing and we
can do better because of one reason. In the Wizard of Oz, Darthy always said there's no place like home and this is your home. Like it or not. You want to move, that's your right. You have every right to do what you feel. But this is there's no place like Clark. It's our home. If it's not yours and you have issues, we can talk them out. we can
have a full communication of the issues and try to resolve them. And that's all I have to say. Let us work through this issues. Let us be a better community. Thank you. Director Grady or Captain Akaboo a lot. Would you like Do you have anything to
say or any comments on the town? We're good. Okay. Uh Jim, do you have anything to add? >> Yeah, I got a couple of things. Um just to address some of the comments. I mean, this is a long game. It's not something that's going to happen overnight. Um,
this attorney general has been having issues throughout. I mean, you have the Norcross investigation, you have Rabbi Eisermanman, you have the Patterson police holding back information, you know, not a valid claim, uh, Saddlebrook
um, holding back uh, um, information as part of a count uh, case. You know, the correction officer that they violated state evidence rules. I could go on, you know, of all the issues that they've had. Um, the thing that everybody needs
to remember is that the Union County uh, Union County Prosecutor's Office was here for over three and a half years. And when they gave it up, some of the quotes that they made, and I don't want to be accused of misquing something, but the Union County Prosecutor's Office
investigator reportedly that they observed only professional behavior by the CPD officers with no misconduct witnessed. Union County Prosecutor's Office did not observe any incidences of bias, misconduct, or any unprofessional behavior. Um, upon review of the
evidence collected in interviews conducted, UCPO found no evidence to support allegations that CPD Clark Police Department practice bias-based policing during MTOS's tenure. Uh, data uh, reporting and accuracy. Union County Prosecutor's
Office searched also acted as unintended cross check since it each instance where conduct observed warranted an entry into the Guardian tracking system which is their tracking system for calls there was a corresponding entry then found by UCPO again that they were recording
everything correctly. Some of the other things over 200,000 emails were searched back in 2014 and no instances of any CPD members such using terms were revealed. Okay, I could I could tell you all the
companies that I worked for 200,000 emails would find a ton of issues. Uh this the search also re also failed to re reveal any directives or encouragement from the mayor any CPD member to act with bias. Um based on a
on review of all records and this is Union County Prosecutor's Office, not the township, not our own paid people. Based on a review of all records available regarding minority and/or female applicants, Uni County Prosecutor's Office found that appropriate documentation exists in each
applicant's file indicating the reasons for hiring or not selecting the applicant. I could go on. So everything that came out of this Department of Civil Rights uh report from anonymous sources is
inconsistent with what the Union County Prosecutor's Office viewed while they were here. In addition, we have the attorney general's office who's been in in the police department for the last year coming up in March who we had a really good relationship with who has
also found that there were no issues with the department. So again, there's inconsistencies between this DCR report and what the county prosecutor's office and the attorney general's own office found. Now, for us to come back and have
anybody from council, anybody from the administration, anybody from communications to come back and say, you know, there is an issue here and we're going to, you know, we're going to admit to what happened. There's a lot to that's going on. This is the long game.
All anonymous, you know, comments. Nobody associated with it. And as a defense attorney would say, you know, I would love to get every one of those people in front of the the jury so they could understand what their process is,
what their thought process, what their motives are for making these comments. So, let's not take everything that was in that report at face value. I mean, the again, the former attorney general, thankfully, as of today, had all of these issues with it, right? I'm not a
politician. I'm not here to, you know, be elected. I'm here to, you know, represent the town and work through all of these processes with all the professionals, with the PR firm, with the attorneys to make sure that when we get to the point that we understand what
happened, then we could make a statement. Again, I'm not sure if, you know, everybody realizes that, but what's in that um statement is not something that I would hang my hat on in any way, shape, or form, knowing the
former AG. So, I mean, I could go on with other quotes, but I think the meeting went on long enough. Uh, some administrative stuff, and one of the things, you know, people have been putting out branches. We don't have places to store the branches right now.
I mean, we have salt, we have different types of um, you know, our DPW yard, you know, has a very limited space. So, if people would just store their branches until we start picking up branches, it will be greatly appreciated. Just reiterating what Frank said, um, we sent
out a bunch of email or one letter. Um, but a bunch of items were in there. So, if any business has any questions, feel free to call my office. Right. I've been fielding a bunch of questions um about recycling, recycling tonnage. You know,
businesses are responsible for recycling and we have to report that tonnage either through their um contractor or directly. So, we get credit for it. The other thing was in there was the business registration and insurance. Again, not our law, not something that
we put on the books. This is something that's stipulated by the state. We've gone out the last couple of years um and asking people to do it. We found not a lot of compliance. So what we did is we got a a listing of from the library of
all the businesses in town, sent them the letters. So maybe some businesses in town that got letters that are no longer valid. But again, you need to have your business registration and you need to have your insurance. And the other thing was back flow preventers. Again, you
know, a lot of people have been this is from the D. It's for safe water. So, you know, uh contaminated water doesn't flow back into the freshwater system. You know, we we need to have them inspected for all the businesses that are required to have them. Um you know, so if there's
any questions, feel free to call me. You know, I've been answering a bunch of questions as it is, but if anything comes up, you know, let me know. That's all I have to say. Thank you, Madame Clerk. Do you have anything to add? Councelor, you have anything else to add? Uh,
>> no, council president. >> Great. Thank you. Uh, the only thing I have to add is in approximately a month, uh, Clark Travel Basketball will be hosting a tournament uh, across the street at the Brewer Rec Center as well as ALJ High School and Comf Middle
School. As of now, there's over 210 teams um registered from throughout the state uh as far north as uh Sparter, as far south as Point Pleasant, and even some Staten Island schools. So, we have
a lot of uh people coming from all over the the state and adjoining states uh to visit Clark in over a 3-week period. So, I know the businesses in the town love when we have that tournament. Uh, and I'll give another update in two weeks when we have our next public council
meeting. Uh, that's all I have this evening. A motion to adjurnn. >> Thank you, Council Member Tol. Second. >> Second. >> Thank you, Council Member Okconor. All in favor? >> Any opposed? Okay. See you in two weeks. Thank you.